After enduring a cyber attack, Sony Entertainment managed to turn things around with the controversial film "The Interview," garnering more than $15 million throughout the first four days of its release online, Quartz reported.
Sony launched "The Interview" on various online platforms for purchase at $14.99 or for rent at $5.99. Now the numbers have come in, and from Dec. 24 to 27 the film was downloaded more than two million times and resulted in more than $15 million in revenue.
Sony did not reveal how much of the revenue was split with its various online partners or how much of the two million was from purchase or from rentals. However, with its $15 million haul, it beat out the likes of video-on-demand movies such as "Bachelorette" with its $8.2 million and "Snowpiercer" with its $7 million.
Reports have it that "The Interview" even beat out other films that are available for livestreaming on YouTube Movies and Google Play, such as "Guardians of the Galaxy" and "The Maze Runner," according to Variety. The comedy film is now the bestselling film on both streaming sites.
Sony's PlayStation Video store is set to release the movie soon, while Netflix is still in talks to stream the film.
Apple has also joined in and spokesman Tom Neumayr released a statement claiming that "The Interview" has been made available on its iTunes store for purchase or rent, according to The Guardian.
However, the fate of "The Interview" is still considered bleak despite its good VOD showing, the combined revenue from the online releases and the limited showing in select theaters across the country, according to Quartz.
Its earnings are still below the initially expected $20 million gross revenue and Sony seems unlikely to get back the $75 million spent on making the film. The company is looking at not only a loss of around $100 million, but also the embarrassment of their actions following the cyber attack.